Publications by authors named "Zhichuan Zou"

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a clinically rare, genetically and phenotypically heterogeneous condition characterized by chronic respiratory tract infections, male infertility, tympanitis, and laterality abnormalities. PCD is typically resulted from variants in genes encoding assembly or structural proteins that are indispensable for the movement of motile cilia. Here, we identified a novel nonsense mutation, c.

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Article Synopsis
  • Guilingji is a traditional Chinese medicine formula used for centuries to address aging and male sexual dysfunction, but there is limited clinical evidence supporting its effectiveness for idiopathic oligo-asthenoteratozoospermia (OAT).
  • A double-blind, randomized controlled study involving 240 patients evaluated the effects of Guilingji compared to a placebo over 12 weeks, focusing on sperm quality and metabolic changes.
  • Results showed significant improvements in sperm parameters and reduced oxidative stress indicators in patients taking Guilingji, along with notable changes in specific metabolites, suggesting potential therapeutic benefits for OAT.
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Blood-testis barrier (BTB) damage promotes spermatogenesis dysfunction, which is a critical cause of male infertility. Dyslipidemia has been correlated with male infertility, but the major hazardous lipid and the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we firstly discovered an elevation of palmitic acid (PA) and a decrease of inhibin B in patients with severe dyszoospermia, which leaded us to explore the effects of PA on Sertoli cells.

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Couples are delaying childbearing in recent decades. While women experience a notable decrease in oocyte production in their late thirties, the effect of advanced paternal age on reproduction is incompletely understood. Herein, we observed that numerous miRNAs, including miR-574, increased in the sperm of aging males, as indicated by high-throughput sequencing.

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Background: Elevated plasma gonadotropins were associated with desensitization of Sertoli and Leydig cells in the male testis. Testis spermatogenesis ability would be improved via inhibiting high endogenous gonadotropin in patients with severe oligozoospermia. Whether it would be beneficial for non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) patients was still unclear.

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Objective: To investigate the relationship between the serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) level and semen parameters.

Methods: We collected the data about 726 outpatients at the Male Infertility Clinic of Jinling Hospital from September 2015 to November 2016, including 72 with non-obstructive azoospermia, 123 with oligospermia, and 531 with normal sperm concentration. We obtained the semen volume, total sperm count, sperm concentration, sperm motility, the percentages of progressively motile sperm (PMS) and morphologically normal sperm (MNS), and the levels of serum AMH, inhibin B (INH-B), total testosterone (TT) and follicle - stimulating hormone (FSH) of the patients, analyzed the correlation of the serum AMH level with the other parameters, and compared the AMH level among different groups.

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The present study investigated whether grape seed proanthocyanidin extract (GSPE) can attenuate varicocele‑induced testicular oxidative injury through the nuclear factor (erythroid‑derived 2)‑like 2 (Nrf2) antioxidant pathway. A varicocele model in rats was established by partial ligation of the left renal vein. Following 4 weeks of GSPE administration, the decreased sperm count and motility and other pathological changes caused by varicocele were significantly alleviated, as indicated by the results of computer‑assisted sperm analysis and hematoxylin and eosin staining.

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Extra-adrenal pheochromocytomas, or paragangliomas, are rare tumours that derive from extra-adrenal chromaffin cells. Cushing's syndrome (CS) caused by paragangliomas is extremely rare. We report a 53-year-old man with hypertension, diabetes, and symptoms of hypokalemia.

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Thyroid-like follicular carcinoma (TLFC) of the kidney is an extremely rare type of renal tumor, which has not been classified under a known subtype of renal cell carcinoma. It is histologically similar to the primary thyroid follicular carcinoma; however, the characteristics lack thyroid immunohistochemical markers. The aim of the present study was to illustrate the clinical characteristics of 3 new cases along with a review of the literature.

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